Mainstream Programs

As part of its mission to pursue the highest quality education programs for the region’s deaf and hard-of-hearing children, WPSD places its students in public and private school classrooms whenever such arrangements are considered feasible and beneficial. This policy commonly known as “mainstreaming,” enables WPSD students to enjoy the best of both worlds – learning to interact with hearing children while continuing to reap the benefits of WPSD’s communication-rich environment, specialized services and deaf peers and role models.

Elementary and Middle School students have the opportunity to attend classes at local private schools or their home school district, provided they meet specific criteria and an appropriate opening exists in the mainstream program. SAT and PSSA scores, along with other data, are considered in the decision to mainstream a student.

Upon agreement at a student’s IEP, High School juniors and seniors have the opportunity to attend classes in their home school district or an off-campus vocational training program. Students in the vocational training program must demonstrate a unique interest in a vocational area for which training is not provided by WPSD and must have a high likelihood of using these skills upon graduation.